For more than 30 years, Kiwi kids in some hospitals around the country have been comforted by the sounds of Radio Lollipop.
The station is run by a team of volunteers who broadcast in hospitals around Auckland, including Starship Children's Hospital.
There is also a team of Radio Lollipop volunteers based at Christchurch Hospital.
"They can phone into the studio, they could talk live on air. They could make song requests. They could do a shout-out and this is all from the bedside," said Radio Lollipop director Angela Mackie.
Mackie has been with the team for years and still remembers many stories from her early days with the station.
"There was a child in the studio. He had the biggest bandage on his head. He had our headphones - the biggest headphones. Our microphone was pretty big on his little face. And behind that big microphone you could still see the biggest smile on his face," recalled Mackie.
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Starship Children's Hospital is in the midst of renovations meaning Radio Lollipop's studio, which was situated in the hospital's atrium, has had to be dismantled.
So the team has fundraised for what's known as a 'LolliTrollie' - a portable music station that comes with all the bells and whistles.
Staff say it's a game-changer as it can be wheeled to a child's bedside.
It comes complete with a catalogue of songs that children can request, a bubble machine, disco lights and even a fart button.
"It's distraction. It also engages children and their whanau in ways that it's different to just conversations around clinical care which actually helps their progress," said Starship medical director, Dr Greg Williams.
Claire Choe has volunteered with Radio Lollipop for 17 years.
"You hear so many parents who just say this is the first time in days or a while they're seeing (their) daughter or son smile or laugh. Music just takes you to another place," Choe told Newshub.
"Radio itself is very much audio-only. And that audio allows the child to use their imagination to go anywhere in the world they want. Giving them that seat, giving them that 'I'm on the radio' is just magic," added Mackie.
Radio Lollipop is currently fundraising for another 'LolliTrollie' for south Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.
